Guide support and flexible conductor



Feb. 13, 1940. E. D. CRAMMOND 2,190,108

GUIDE SUPPORT AND FLEXIBLE CONDUCTOR I Original Filed Oct. 26, 1935 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 13, 1940. E CRAMMQND 2,190,108

GUIDE SUPPORT AND FLEXIBLE CONDUCTOR Original Filed Oct. 26, 1935 2Sheets-Sheet 2 45 Fig. 3 is a rear view in elevation of the device port.The connecting web portion of the clamp 5 50 shown in section.

Patented Feb. 13, 1940 I I v 1 UNITED STATES PATENroFF1cs- GUIDE SUPPORTAND FLEXIBLE CONDUCTOR Earle D. Crammond, Washington, D. 0.

Application October 26, 1935, Serial No. 46,946 Renewed July 7, 1939 2Claims. (01. 248-51) Thisinvention relates to conductor cord take Fig.'7 is a plan View of :sheet metal stock with up devices especiallyadapted for use in'connecthe mannerof cutting out therefrom the guidetion with portable electric translating devices and support stampings'.I

which, when muse, are caused tobe'moved to Fig. 8 is a view of a singlestampingbefore' 5 various positions in contacting articles of workforming with points of bending indicated by I on a work supportingtable. dotted lines. i

Electricaltranslating devices such as flat irons Referring to Fig. 1 ofthe drawings.A'repreare usually connected with an outlet or fixedcursents a work support the form of an ironing rent tap by a detachableflexible conductor cord table. I indicates a spring tableclamp forming10 to permit movement of the device with respect a base support foracord guide and support} 10 to a work table. In using such devices as anpivotally mounted on the support. This cord electric iron on an ironingtable, the slack in the guide and support generally stated comprises anconductor cord, if not supported and maintained aperturd sheet metalstamping forming a main 7 out of contact with the articles worked on,hinders frame support carrying an insulating anti-fric- 5 an operatorand is liable to soil the articles. A tion'al guide bearing andacoiledspiin'gflielastic conductor cord, because ofit's metallicconductube. The elastic tube is attached atoneend to tors, is relativelyheavy and such a cord, if al-' the main frame support iand at the otherend to lowed" to drag over f xed and uninsulated sura clamp engaging ata predetermined point a confaces, soon becomes badly damaged anduseless. ductor cord B which extends throughthe elastic It is one'of theobjects of the invention to protube, apertured frame and insulatingantij-fric vide a conductor guide and s'upportiwhich will tion guidebearing. The cordis-equippedtwith adequately guide and support theconductor cord connectors C and "D at its ends for cooperating out ofcontact with articles worked on, without with a fixed-outlet E andtheelectrical translatkinking and free from damaging frictional coningdevice F. j i i i i tact with the support and guide structure. Referringt the draw s. a d in particularito 25 Further objects of the inventioninclude the. the. form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1, provisionof a conductor guide and support inthe numeral'l indicates'a springclamp for engag eluding an insulating antifriction guide bearing; ingover the edge of aworktable such as an 'iron the provision of astructure adapted'for inter ing board or the like. This clamp formsfabase changeable use with a plurality of base supports; support for aconductor guide and support struc- 3 and the provision of a structurewhich is simple, ture 2 pivotally mounted on the body of the efficientand inexpensive to manufacture and clamp. T e a p Comprises a m dy Pwhich may be quickly mounted on or detached tion having spaced parallelhorizontal arms Band from a work table. i r 4 and an integral connectingweb portion5 f'I'he Specific details of structure and further objectsentire body of the lamp is preferablyjformed 5* of the invention willbeapparent from the folfrom anfintg a Sheet p lowing detaileddescription of the specification tively thin stock 'which"may bereinforced and and by reference to the drawings forming a part stiffenedby a plurality of stiffening ribs 6 ex thereof, wherein--- j tendinglongitudinallyof *the blankr Aflleaf y 40, Fig. 1 is a perspective viewshowing an em-' spring 1 is suitably anchored in the lowerarm bodimentof the invention applied toan electric of the c a p and traverseslthespace between iron. v two horizontal arms so" as to resiliently engageFig. 2 is a view in elevation of the devi f' the under surface of aworksupport when the Fig. 1; showingsome parts in section. clamp is'positioned over the edge of the supof Fig. 2. i has struck therefromariintegral tongue 8 which Fig. 4; is a view in elevation of the cord guideis pressed outwardly: of. the main clamp metal and support and amodified form of 'clamp base and formed to provide an anchoring hookfora support with the connection between the parts portion of aconductor cord. The lower end of the g v spring .1 is arranged undermetal straps struck Fig. 5 shows a modified form of base support up'fromthe metal of the lower arm, as illus and a modified form of mounting forthe cord trated, or may be fastened in any well known aw and pp t Y'manner to provide a secure anchorage for the ,1 aperspcctive view ofthe clampof spring. p

The conductor guide and support 2 comprises a main body or bracketportion which may be made of reinforced molded composition but prefingl6 may be positioned in the aperture to he held therein by coil p i gelastic tube 24, or"

the coil spring may be directly attached ;to the bracket.

IT, to receive horizontal pintles l8 supporting thereon groovedinsulated rollers is of an anti friction roller guide bearing :supportfor 0on ductorcord B passing between the rollers and through thebushing. The rollers forming the roller bearing support may be of woodor molded insulating composition and mounting in the side arms, is solocated that the peripheries of the; rollers at their largest diameter.do not contact each other but are arranged sufiiciently close to eachother to define with their central grooved portions a guiding aperturewhich is substantially circular. The anti-friction bearing and theapert-ure defined by the grooved rollers is so located and proportionedwith respect to the aperturein the upright end wall structure as toguidev a d support a conductor cord moving through the rollers-and theapertured bracket out of. frictional contact with the edge of thebushing or the end. wall structure, as the case may be.

The elastic tube 24 has one end attached to the insulating b ushingextending through the bracket in a manner Well known in-the art. Thisend of the tube may also he directly attached to the metal of thestampingit. desireithus omitting the insulating bushing. The outer orfree end of the elastic tube is provided with a small insulating c1amp35 which is arranged for attachment to the conductor cord :13 at aprede-l termined point of adjustment. -A strain reliever 36 may extendfrom the clamp for detachable engagement with .a portion, Of theelectrical translating device torelieve the strain on the cons ductorcord B at the point of connection withthe attachment plug. This strainreliever willalso transmit the direct pull of the translating devicewhen in use to the end of the elastic tube. The conductor cord B extendsthrough the elastic tube which serves as a conduit therefor and throughthe apertured guide support stamp? ing and between the groovedinsulating rollers. \Vhen the translating device is moved, away from theguide support over-the surface of a work table, the spring will beextended, and When the device is returned toward the cord guide and,support, the spring will contract under its own tension. Inreciprocatory movement of the elec-z trical device, it will be seen thatthe conductor 1 cord will be automatically fed back and forth throughthe insulating guide bearing and the elastic tube and the position ofthe guide and support being adjacent the edge of the worksupport willcause the cord to be deposited in a loop hanging free of the edge of thetable. A portion of the cord between the loop therein and the endconnection with an electrical outlet may be clamped in the spring clip 8to avoid disccn-.

necting the cord from the outlet in normal operation of theelectricaltranslating ,device.

Conductor cords embodying metallic conduc tors being relatively heavyhave a tendency. to

The side walls are each aperturegLwatj wire memberfhaving a verticalextension support.

The lower supporting arms of the cord guide and support is' pertured, at2 I, and is riveted for rotatable mounting on the clamp base support I.

This rotatable mounting, as illustrated, involves a 'washerzr interposedbetween the supporting arm and theupper suniace of the clamp and a rivet:23 passing through the clamp washer and supportin filrm of the gLL'deand support. Any well known mounting means may be employed to effeet theswivel joint hetweentheelamp and the cord support, modifications thereofshown in the structunesof i igs. 4 and 5. ,The main body of the guidestructure may be interchangeably mounted on supporting bases and clampsdiffering in structure from that illustrated in 2. Examples of modified.supporting bases clamp supports are illustrated in Figs. 4 and .5 of thedrawings...v InEig. i theclamp 25 comprises an ordinaryU-shaped-clamping bracket having a threadedfasteningscrew 26 passingthrough the lower arm of the clamp for. attaching the clamp to atable orwork support. The upper arm of this clamp is a ertured at 21m receive aheaded stud 28 reduced and screw threaded at its outer endv The reducedportion of the studdefines a shoulder and body, portion which isslightly higher than the combined thickness of a washer 2 2 and thelower supportarrn-iil of vthe cord guide structure. portion o f the studserves to hold the elements in position on theolamp-and allows rotationof the .cord guide in its supported position.

vIn Fig. 5, the table clamp; consists of a bent threadedqatiits upper.end. A nut Si is threadedon the upright member and has a reduced portiondefining a horizontal lower supporting arm of the guide structuresurrounds the reducedportion of this nut and is here shown withalportion ofthc' metal struck upwardly, t c form avertical bearing surfacecooperating with the nutrshank; A look nut is threaded on the upper endof the upright member into engagement with the reduced extension of thelower nut. -The space between the horizontal flange of the lower nut andthe bottom of the loc-k'nutiis slightly larger than the thickness of theguide support arm and allows the guide support to rotate with the nutassembly forming a bearing. therefor.

The stamping H1 shown in 7, is struck from sheet metal-stock with aminimum waste of metal, as shown by the stamping-pian'detail illustratedby Fig.6. It will be noted that the manner of cutting the stampings frommetal stock practically eliminates waste of material the result asembodied in the finished stamping a simple structure which can be-manufactured with a minimum of cost.

In operation of the structure which has been described,v it. will benoted that the weight of the cord forming the depending loop below theupper surface of the work support will be taken A nut Bil-screw threadedon the reduced chiefly by the insulating anti-friction bearing 75comprising the grooved rollers and passage of the cord back and forththrough this roller bearing is confined to the central portion of thecord bearing support. The rollers of the guide bearing rotating duringreciprocation of the cord afford little or no response and serve todirect the cord centrally through the apertured frame support and theelastic tube, thus unnecessary fraying caused bywear on the cord isavoided and the normal life of the connection is materially lengthened.The weight of the cord loop hanging from the roller bearing tends tomaintain the cord centrally of the coil spring elastic tube minimizingfriction within the tube.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention selected for illustration,the anti-friction insulating guide bearing comprises grooved insulatingrollers although operative structures are obtainable with the use ofball bearings and four ordinary rollers mounted in cooperating opposedpairs. Such modifications are contemplated under the generic expressionanti-friction guide bearing embodied in the foregoing description of theinvention. While the invention is described in connection with thepreferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the words which havebeen used are words of description rather than of limitation and thatchanges within the purview of the appendedclaims may be made withoutdeparting from the true scope and spirit of the invention in all itsaspects.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character describedcomprising a conductor cord, atubular elastic conduit for the cord, means for securing one end of saidconduit in fixed relationship with a portion of said cord, and a bracketfixed to the other end of said conduit; means to minimize Wear of saidcord comprising a plurality of rotatable anti-friction elementssupported on said bracket closely adjacent the other end of saidconduit, said elements cooperating to form a passageway for said cord,said passageway being in alignment with the end of the conduit to guidesaid cord centrally into and from the conduit free from contact with thebracket and conduit end.

2. In a device of the character described comprising a conductor cord, atubular elastic. conduit for the cord, means for securing one end ofsaid conduit in fixed relationship to said cord, and a bracket fixed tothe other end of said conduit; means to minimize wear of said cordcomprising a plurality of vertically spaced peripherally groovedanti-friction rollers supported on said bracket closely adjacent theother end of said conduit, said rollers cooperating to form a passagewayfor said cord, said passageway being in alignment with the end of theconduit to guide said cord centrally into and from the conduit free fromcontact with the bracket and so

